Apple Classroom & 5 Reasons you need Apple Classroom in your iPad classroom

If you don't know already, I am using Apple Classroom in my technology classes this year. I talk about how it came about, how we use it, and what it is like to set up for multiple classes in another blog post here.

Today, I want to focus more on what Apple Classroom does, and why I think that it is such a valuable tool to use in any iPad classroom. Here are my top 5 reasons that you should look into Apple Classroom.

Screen Control: Did you know that you can view all of your students screens at one time? It also tells you what app they are on. You can see what program they are using, and close them out of it if they are not on task. Talk about having eyes everywhere - you're like Santa Claus. You really can see everything they're doing.
Instant App/Internet Opening: With just one click, you can open any app on the students device. You can do the same thing with any favorite that you have on the internet. How great is it to be able to say go here, and it open automatically on your students. With my older students, I like them to navigate the iPad and get to where they need to be. My younger students, I love this function because it could take half of my time in their classroom getting each student unit the program I need them to be in.
Locked Devices: At any point in time, you can lock the student devices. This means that their screen turned black, says that it was locked by you, and they can't do anything with it until you unlock it.
Sharing via Keynote: For those of you that are like me and are a Microsoft school instead of a Google one, it seemed that I was out of luck when it came to Shari g presentations and activities with my students. While I can't do everything that a GoogleDoc or Slide can do, I can share any presentations that I make in Keynote (like Slides or PowerPoint) with my students in an editable form.
AirDrop Turning In: Again, while it's not quite as easy as Google Classroom, Apple Classroom does allow students to turn anything into you via AirDrop. You can then save those files into anything on your device for easy grading.

If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will. Seriously, it is fabulous and I love the way it works. Let me know if you have any other questions. I would be happy to answer them!

Happy Teaching,

Hilary

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